Off the Grid
by Dencin
Summary: Kristoff is a supply runner, Anna is a communications operator, they start talking to keep each other company. However, on a run Kristoff disappears into a major red zone. Anna worries, not being able to communicate or track them and not knowing what happened. Will she sit idly by and wait for him to return? Or will she stray into the red zone to find him?
1. Chapter 1

Elsa stumbled back into a counter, the rough wood of a counter bit into her hand as she caught herself to keep from falling to the floor. Bulda, an elderly healer, rushed forwards in an attempt to assist her, but stopped just shy of touching her. She quickly retracted her hand from the woman's space and stepped back.

"It's getting more frequent... " The healer commented, her voice morbid.

"I'm fine." Elsa replied in a clipped tone, brushing her off "The tonic, please."

The elder woman gave a disapproving sigh before moving past the blonde, to where a strange assortment of liquids sat in different containers by wood stove. As the elder woman worked, Elsa let her blue eyes roam the store; as they usually did when she visited. Shelves lined the two walls of the room, filled with dusty bottles of who-knows-what. Candles, books, and a strange collection of insects took up space on a small table in the corner and the counter was full of a surprising, and mildly disturbing, amount of unidentifiable body parts, seeming to come from some sort of zombied creature. Small pots, crates, crystals, and barrels of interesting and unidentifiable things took up the rest of the space, and a hidden door led to a tiny back room. Bulda moved quickly, combining different types of the liquids together and adding nauseating ingredients to the cauldron. It reacted angrily each time she dropped something into the liquid, and Elsa eventually had to look away.

A few moments later, the woman was done and moved back towards the girl holding a cup full of dark brown sludge in her outstretched arm. Elsa felt a familiar twist in her gut at the sight of it; fear. However, that did not stop her from taking the cup and quickly downing it. The drink was bitter tasting, like battery acid, and it burned all the way down her throat. She retched and willed herself not to completely throw it up, knowing the taste was worth what it gave her; life.

The girl grimaced as she gave the empty cup back to the woman, who tossed it immediately into the fire, and leaned over the counter, breathing heavily as the mixture started taking effect. After a few minutes, her stomach settled and she straightened her back, smoothing her blouse. A voice broke the silence.

"You need to tell her." Bulda started, but was soon cut off by the blonde.

"No." She stated, finality in her tone. "She doesn't need to know, it would only upset her."

She moved to head towards the door, but was blocked by the short and sturdy woman.

"She needs to prepare. The tonic is working less and less each day." She insisted. "Sooner or later it's not going to work anymore. Then where will she be?"

"Anna will be- Anna!" She startled, jumping slightly as her sister popped into the shop.

"Hey, I've been looking all over for you! C'mon, I wanna show you something!" She said, moving to grab her sister's arm as she came into the shop.

Anna's hand closed around thin air, causing her to look back with confusion and up at her sister. Elsa cleared her throat and side-stepped around her sister, her gaze anywhere but her sister's face.

"I don't have time, Anna." She said, moving to the door then stopped. "How much longer, Bulda?"

"Three months." She replied,

Anna stood there, confusion on her face at their exchange, but before she could question her sister, she was gone. She stared at the closed door, willing her sister to come back. Suddenly a warm feeling spread on her shoulder and she turned to see that Bulda had put her hand on her. She gave the woman a small smile and turned back towards the door, wanting to feel something but winding up not feeling anything at all; just an empty feeling in her heart.

"Your sister means well… just give her time." Bulda said gently, leading the girl towards the door.

She nodded quietly before continuing out the door and onto the dirt road. Looking left, she could see the Runners and a few guards returning, as the sun was beginning to set, and to the right she could just make out her sister's silver-blonde head bobbing through the crowd. With a sigh she dropped her gaze to the ground before turning and heading back to their home.


	2. Chapter 2

An incessant beeping caused Anna to jolt upright in bed. Her red hair resembled a frayed haystack on her head and a line of drool had been creeping its way from the corner of her mouth, where it had also snagged some of her hair. Yawning, she swiped the hair and drool from her face before leaning over and slapping the alarm off. Grumbling something unintelligible she rested her head in her hands, as her elbows rested on her knees. Then, ever so slowly, she started sinking forwards towards the bed. Until her head slipped from her hands and sent a rush of adrenaline through her, and again, causing her to jolt upright.

"I'm up!" She called out— a knee-jerk reaction.

Groaning, she cracked an eye open to peek over at the alarm clock. Her eyes snapped open and she flew out of bed with an unusual amount of dexterity as she launched herself to her closet, searching for something to wear. She was going to be late on her first day of work! Well, it wouldn't be the first time she would be late to a job… however, she didn't want to see Elsa's smug face when she lost her job… again. But hey, sixteenth times the charm, right?

She wasn't completely inept at her other jobs, but they just never suited her. This one seemed like it might be the best fit. Her sister had gotten her a job as one of the communications operators, since, for one, she couldn't stop talking, and a position just opened up. How that position opened up, she preferred not to think about. It had been a complete accident, if they hadn't been wandering outside of the gates… Anna shuddered pulling on a pair of distressed dark green skinny jeans, black tank-top, and a dingy black leather jacket before running out of the door.

Luckily for her, they didn't seem to notice her tardiness and she took a seat in the only available spot in the small room. She shared the room with three other people, being in one of the three communications towers in Annandale. How could she mess this up? All she would be doing is talking to people and relaying instructions and locations of the Runner's whereabouts. Easy. Since it was her first day, she was assigned only one runner, to make it easier on her to learn how to do her job rather than have her attention divided too much. So she flicked on her radio and stuck the earpiece in her ear and cleared her throat nervously.

"This is Tower One…" She started, looking down at the sheet in front of her with her Runner's information. "Christopher, do you copy?"

There was a pause on the line, and she heard a sigh on the other end.

"It's actually just Kristoff— but I copy, Tower One." A male voice replied.

"Oh, uh, right. Sorry." Anna stuttered, turning a light shade of red.

He remained silent on the other end for a beat.

"So, are you going to give me my orders?" He questioned irritably.

"…your orders? Your orders!" She scrambled momentarily to read down the page attached to his information, relaying the information to him.

If her face wasn't red before, it was flaming red now. She felt an overwhelming need to apologize for her lack of readiness.

"Sorry, I'm new and I don't know all the ropes—" She started before being cut off by Kristoff.

"Listen, can you just stop talking so I can concentrate so I don't— you know— get eaten?!" Kristoff retorted.

She caught her lip between her teeth as her breath caught in her throat. Shame coursed through her again, and she remained silent. Of course she was only there to relay orders and information, not give this guy her story. He was out there with zombies lurking about, of course he needed to focus on that and not her incessant talking. It didn't stop his reprimand from hurting her feeling though, no matter how right he was. So it was easy to say that her first day on the job was not going well, at least the first four hours wasn't.

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier." Kristoff said around the five hour mark.

She knew he was referring to his snapping, but she didn't reply, not wanting to make even more of a fool of herself.

"Tower One, do you copy?" He asked.

"This is Tower One, I copy." She replied.

"Listen, I am sorry. My Mama would feed me to the zombies out here if she heard what I said." Kristoff sighed. "So let me make it up to you. I'll bring you back something. What do you want?"

"Anything?" Anna asked, unsure if he'd be able to deliver what she had in mind.

"Anything." He replied.

"Chocolate!"


End file.
